


kick off your dancing shoes and come ride with me

by SmittyJaws



Series: modern times (rock and roll) [4]
Category: Queen (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, F/M, Fluff, ace!Deaky, ace!OFC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 09:24:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21177134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmittyJaws/pseuds/SmittyJaws
Summary: John wants to take Jay out someplace fun for their second date.





	kick off your dancing shoes and come ride with me

**Author's Note:**

> Requested by [Summertime_Poet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Summertime_Poet/pseuds/Summertime_Poet).
> 
> Also, huge thanks to [mothmansupreme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mothmansupreme/pseuds/mothmansupreme) who not only let me borrow Blanche again, but let me borrow the headcanon about John having taken dancing lessons in this AU from [her post here](https://mothmandeacon.tumblr.com/post/181121770469/modern-queen-au). :D

Since the ice skating date, John’s been waiting for the right opportunity to ask Jay out again. He wants to make sure he’s not asking too soon (so as not to appear clingy) or waiting too long (so as not to appear indifferent), and he wants to do something nice with her.

She was the one who had suggested the skating last time, so John feels as though it’s on him to decide about the next date now. He’s stuck for a little while; he wants to do something a bit more romantic but he knows neither of them can really afford to be spending too much at the moment. He knows that any of his three bandmates would lend him money if he asked, but he also knows they’re not much better off than he is and besides, this is something he needs to do himself.

After what feels like an eternity but in reality is only about a week, John hits upon an idea that’s absolutely brilliant in its simplicity and he wonders why it didn’t occur to him sooner. Now he just has to find out if Jay will be interested in it.

——

He brings it up the next time she comes to watch the band rehearse. Once the others have left the room and John has packed up his gear, John joins Jay on the ratty old sofa that no one has the heart to get rid of and tells her he has a question for her.

Her eyebrows twitch upwards in response, and for a brief moment, John feels his nerves make a reappearance before he shoves those back down so he can say what he needs to say. “…I was wondering if you might like to go out again?” John asks shyly. 

There’s absolutely no hesitation before Jay gives her response, beaming: “I would love to. Did you have something in mind for this time?”

“Actually, yes.” John nods. “How would you feel about going dancing?”

“Dancing? Like at a club?” she asks. “Thought you didn’t like a lot of the ones nearby; said they were too trashy or overpriced.”

“This one’s different.” John shakes his head. “They’re a reasonable price and do themed nights every Saturday, and it’s quite fun, actually.”

“Themed how?”

“Well, the last few have been: ballroom/waltz, 50s American sock hop, and Latin American dance.” John thinks back to the list he’d seen on the club’s website. “Not all of them are the best themes, but some of them are really entertaining. So what do you think?”

Jay’s smile wavers slightly at that question, but she nods anyway after a moment. “I’m not very good, but I’m game to try something new. That is, if you won’t be too embarrassed to be seen with me and my two left feet.” She winces, and it pains John to see it - if there’s something he hates to see, it’s her beating herself up over something small like this.

“I’m sure you’re not half as bad as all that,” John counters, taking her hand in his in a surprisingly bold move. “But if you’re that worried… I could teach you. Not a lot, mind - I’m not an instructor, after all. But I could definitely show you enough so that you wouldn’t be lost.”

“Really?” Jay says, raising an eyebrow. “You actually know about this kind of thing?”

“Yeah.” John ducks his head slightly, face going a bit red. “My parents were friends with a couple that owned a dance studio, and they made me and Julie both take lessons for years. Said it was never a bad skill to have, and that it looks attractive to potential partners.” His face goes even redder at that admission and he releases Jay’s hand to hide his face in his own hands. “Julie and I both protested that it wasn’t the Regency era anymore, but to no avail. I’m just thankful they never put us in competitions or anything.”

There’s no sound for a moment, and John thinks that maybe telling Jay wasn’t such a good idea. But then he hears a soft chuckle and lifts his head to see her looking at him fondly. “You alright in there? Or are you getting caught up in your own mind and thinking I’m about to judge you?”

“Um.” John has no good answer for that, clenching and unclenching his hands in his lap.

“You know I wouldn’t, right?” Jay says gently, nudging John’s side. “I think it’s rather cool, actually. I’m always so impressed when I watch people who know how to dance properly; it’s a dying art, in some respects.”

“It is, yeah,” John agrees, nodding, but still a bit hesitant. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did, though. A lot of people see it as old-fashioned, or emasculating.”

“Well, this is your lucky day, then,” Jay replies breezily as she leans into John’s side on the sofa. “I’m not ‘a lot of people’, and I’m honestly just more dreading how I’ll embarrass you with my lack of skills than anything.”

“Ah, but see - that can be fixed,” John says with a grin, shifting slightly so that he can put his arm around Jay’s shoulders and lean on the arm of the sofa while she leans on him. “Just trust me, alright?”

“If you say so.” She takes his free hand in hers, and there’s a moment of silence while they sit there together on the awful sofa before she speaks up again with a smirk: “So does this mean I should be calling you Mr. Darcy from now on, or…?”

John just groans and rolls his eyes.

——

They decide to practice at John’s flat, as he has a bigger amount of floor space. Jay’s just standing there a bit awkwardly as John turns on his speaker and sets up his Spotify queue to play the music he has in mind. He adjusts the volume to the right setting and soon, bright cheerful saxophone music is playing in the sitting room and Jay is tilting her head slightly as she listens. “Is this… Benny Goodman? Nice choice.” She nods approvingly.

“It is. It’s a 1920s swing dancing night coming up that we’re going to, so I thought this would be appropriate.” John steps closer and takes Jay’s hand in his, putting his other hand on her hip. “You ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose.” She sounds nervous, but John’s determined to be able to put her at ease with this. He’s set up his playlist to have slower songs go first to get her more used to the steps, and gradually having them move up to more upbeat pieces.

Predictably, Jay’s tense as anything at the beginning, but it doesn’t take long before she’s getting a bit of a hang of things and soon she’s just as immersed in the movements to the music and how the dance coordinates them moving together.

They both get a bit breathless as the playlist goes on, but John’s pleased to see how happy and at ease Jay looks. “You’re getting there,” he encourages her as they continue to move around the sitting room floor together to the music. “You barely made any missteps that last time. You’re honestly picking this all up rather quickly - are you sure you’ve never taken lessons before, yourself?” he teases. 

“You know I haven’t.” Jay rolls her eyes, even as she follows John’s cue to spin out then back in towards him. “However, flattery will get you everywhere.” She grins from her place in John’s arms, tucked up against his body before the dance dictates that they move apart again.

When they finally decide to stop for the day, John finds himself missing the closeness that dancing together entails, but they make plans to practice some more on another day as well. Even though they both know this date won’t be anything serious, Jay insists that she’ll need to practice more just to be sure, and John’s not complaining - it’s just another reason to spend time together.

——

Sooner than anticipated, it’s the day of the actual date. Despite knowing that Jay wants this and that she won’t stand him up, John still spends ages agonizing as he gets ready to go out; fussing with his hair to make sure it looks the way he wants it to and trying to pick out an outfit for the evening. Don’t want to be too casual; this is fancier than going ice skating. Don’t want to be too fancy; dressing up too much to go out dancing is sure to make that ridiculous _Disco Deaky_ nickname that Roger keeps trying to make happen an actual thing. In the end, he settles on a nice dark button-down shirt with little stars on it that he particularly likes and some decent trousers, and figures he’ll be alright in those.

This time around, he’s got his car at least, so no more rides and odd conversation with Roger. John heads on over to Jay’s flat at half-past 6, the time he said he’d meet her. She’d told him she’d meet him outside, but when he arrives, she’s nowhere to be seen and John’s a bit surprised, as they’re normally both relatively punctual. Just then, he sees a flurry of movement headed in his direction and his eyes widen; Jay’s walking quickly towards him wearing a nice knee-length dress with deep blue accents all over it and she actually looks dressed up for a proper formal date.

Even though he knew this was coming, that this would be fancier than going out to skate, John’s still floored by the way she looks and his mouth goes a bit dry. It’s not like he hasn’t seen Jay in skirts and dresses before, but this is different - this is actually dressing up expressly for a date. He thought he was stunned when he saw her dressed for the last date? This outfit blows that away, and John can’t stop himself from admiring the sight of her dressed up nicely for a date with him. The thought of her specifically preparing to spend time with _him_ still gives him a warm feeling inside, and his face breaks out into a smile as she approaches him. “You look lovely.”

“Thanks.” She ducks her head shyly. “Sorry I was running behind a bit; Blanche was fussing over my hair and wouldn’t let me head down until she was happy.”

“That’s alright,” John chuckles as he walks over to open the car door for Jay to get in, before heading over to the driver’s side to get in himself. “That’s a nice dress, by the way. It’s a lovely colour on you.”

“Oh, thank you - it’s actually Blanche’s, though. It’s too long for her, and she insisted that I needed to wear this tonight if I ‘wanted to look half-decent’. For all that she didn’t meddle last time for our date, she was very involved this time.” She shakes her head in amusement. “It’s rather entertaining, being mothered by someone who’s comparatively hobbit-sized. I suppose you get the same from Freddie,” she jokes.

John laughs outright at that. “More than you know. Nothing like having surrogate parents who fret over your every outing. But I know he means well, and Blanche does too.”

“Oh definitely. Still amusing, though.”

The rest of the ride is spent in pleasant conversation, but once they arrive at the club John can tell that Jay’s nervous again about messing things up. “It’ll be fine,” he reassures her as he gently takes her hand in his as they walk inside. “No one will notice; they’re probably more concerned about themselves than us.”

“But what if they do notice?” Jay frets, grip on John’s hand tightening slightly as she eyes the dance floor apprehensively where several couples are already out dancing. “I’ll just look stupid, and it’ll reflect badly on you, and I don’t want to ruin the evening.”

“Hey, now.” John frowns and turns Jay to face him, looking her in the eyes. “I promise you it’ll be alright, but if you really don’t want to do this, I won’t make you. I want you to enjoy tonight, and if that means we go right back home and dance to my phone playlist in private, then that’s what we’ll do.”

“N-no. I want to do this.” Jay shakes her head. “I just… need to get over myself, is all. I’m sorry.”

“No need to be sorry,” John replies, pulling her closer in a comforting embrace. “If you only knew the state I get in before playing shows with the band sometimes. It’s alright; just take a moment, if you need?”

“Okay.” Jay nods, leaning in closer and taking a few deep breaths before she pulls back, a determined look on her face. “I think I can do this.”

Just then, the song changes to a familiar one; it’s one that they’ve practiced several times. Jay laughs weakly at that, gesturing towards the dance floor: “Must be a sign, I think. Shall we?”

“Of course.” John smiles and leads them both out, taking the appropriate positions to start the dance. He gives Jay another reassuring look, and they start to dance, moving through the steps exactly the way he’s taught her. There are a few missteps and muttered curses from Jay as they go along, and more than once John can feel her grip on his hand tighten in response to her stress, but as they settle into the familiar routine and Jay becomes a little less self-conscious, he can feel her relax.

Soon, it’s just the same as their practice sessions, and they’re both just having fun and laughing along to the music as they shuffle and whirl and twist to the sounds of Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, and the like. There are still mistakes, to be sure (and even John’s guilty of a few of them), but neither of them can find it in them to care, and it’s a disappointment to both of them when the DJ announces the last song to wrap up the evening.

This one’s a much slower song, and they haven’t really covered how to properly slow dance. John can see Jay getting tense again as she watches the unfamiliar steps from the other couples around them. Wanting to forestall that, but also not wanting to be the one couple to leave the floor so abruptly, John thinks fast. He moves Jay’s arms to rest upon his shoulders and moves his own hands down to her hips to hold her before he starts the tried-and-true, no-dance-education-needed slow dance shuffle.

Jay looks a bit confused but quickly eases into the moves, swaying gently along with John’s movements. “What are you doing?”

“What’s it look like I’m doing?” John replies, quirking one side of his mouth up in amusement. “I’m dancing with you.”

“This isn’t a dance, and you know it.” She rolls her eyes, even as she continues to move slowly along with John. “Unless there’s some fancy technical name for this awkward teenage-style dance I don’t know about?”

“Isn’t it a dance, though? There’s music, we’re moving; what more do we need?” John’s fully aware he’s grinning cheekily at this point. 

“You know what I meant. It’s not an actual, has-proper-steps dance. So, why this? I’m sure you haven’t done something like this for a long time, if ever.”

John nods towards the other couples on the floor. “Because that style of slow dance isn’t one we covered in our lessons, but I still wanted to dance with you.” John loosens his hold slightly to look her in the eyes. “Should I not have done that?”

“It’s a little odd, going from full proper dancing to this,” Jay admits. “…but I don’t mind. I think it’s sweet.” She bites her lip slightly and shifts her arms to pull John a bit closer. John reciprocates in kind, and soon they’re holding each other close as they continue to sway to the music. Jay’s cheek is resting on John’s shoulder, and John’s is leaned up against the top of her head. It’s comfortable, and John can feel that warm fuzzy feeling he’d felt on the skating date come back full-force as they hold each other in this position.

Not long after he’s felt that the song ends and they’re forced to pull apart as the lights come up and the DJ thanks everyone for coming out tonight. There’s not a lot of talk as they gather their coats and make their way back to Jay’s flat to drop her off for the night, but the ride home is punctuated by lots of stifled yawns from both of them and John knows that he’ll be falling asleep rather quickly tonight.

He parks his car on the street when they arrive at Jay’s building, and walks her to the front door. John’s sure he looks just as sleepy as Jay does, but the cold outdoor air helps to perk both of them up slightly and Jay gives him a shy smile again before she speaks. “Thank you. For another lovely night out, and for being so considerate of me and my working myself up over this. I appreciate that, and I had a lot of fun.”

“It’s no trouble, really.” John blushes slightly, but thankfully the colder air helps to hide that. “I wanted you to have a good time. What we do on the date itself is secondary; if you’re happy, then I’m happy.”

Now it’s Jay’s turn to blush. “You really are so sweet.” There’s a moment of silence before she continues: “I should probably head in. Blanche will probably harass me for details the moment I set foot inside, and this dress lets in a bit of a draft in this weather.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” John apologizes. “I didn’t mean to keep you.”

“Nah.” Jay waves off his apology. “The more I stall, the more likely she’ll be in her room and I can sneak by and deal with her interrogation tomorrow.” She grins before she shivers slightly. “But it _is_ cold, and I really should be heading in.”

Jay reaches out and gives John’s hand a gentle squeeze before she unexpectedly leans in and stands up on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek. “We’ll have to do this again sometime.” She smiles as she steps back and unlocks her building’s front door. “Goodnight, John. Let me know you’ve gotten home safely, alright?”

Dumbfounded and feeling another resurgence of the warm feeling in his chest, it’s all John can do to nod his head in agreement and force himself to leave to drive home, rather than just stare at the empty foyer all night in wonderment at that unexpected kiss.

That night he dreams of Jay, and in his dream, she kisses him again and he holds her close, and they can dance and dance and never need to be apart.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm also @smittyjaws on Tumblr, if you want to hit up my dumpster fire of a blog!


End file.
